Simon Mignolet
Simon Mignolet (born 6 March 1988) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liverpool F.C. Liverpool career After the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, with speculation rife that long-time number one goalkeeper Pepe Reina was set for a move to Spanish giants Barcelona, Liverpool moved for the highly-rated Sunderland shot-stopper Simon Mignolet. The deal was confirmed on 25 June 2013 for a fee believed to be £9,000,000 with an additional £1,000,000 in bonuses- although some report the fee in excess of £11,000,000. Mignolet penned a five-year deal at Liverpool, becoming the first Belgian to represent the club. Despite the initial speculation, manager Brendan Rodgers was insistent that Mignolet was signed to provide competition for Reina, rather than to replace the Spaniard, and Reina himself was quick to welcome Mignolet to the club. It became clear that Mignolet would in fact be Liverpool's new number one goalkeeper however, when Pepe Reina joined Napoli on loan on 29 July 2013. On 27 June 2013, it was confirmed that Mignolet had been handed the no. 22 jersey for the 2013-14 season. Mignolet made his non-competitive debut for Liverpool on 13 July 2013 in an away preseason tie against Preston. He played the first 80 minutes of the game. On 17 August 2013, Mignolet made his competitive debut for the Reds as he lined up in the opening day 1-0 victory over Stoke. Mignolet's shining moment came in the 87th minute, when he saved a Jonathan Walters penalty and the follow up shot from Kenwyne Jones to preserve Liverpool's 1-0 lead. Mignolet conceded his first Premier League goals for the club in Liverpool's fourth match of the season, as the Reds drew 2-2 away at Swansea on 16 September 2013. His performances led him to become the Standard Chartered Player of the Month for September 2013. Mignolet made his first high-profile mistake on 26 December 2013, misjudging the flight of a shot from Alvaro Negredo as Liverpool lost 2-1 at Manchester City. He again errored in Liverpool's next match, as he failed to keep out Samuel Eto'o's weak shot in a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea, although he did produce impressive saves from Eto'o and Frank Lampard. Although the season ended with the Reds finishing as runners-up in the League to Man City, Liverpool conceded 50 goals during the campaign, which led to scrutiny over the Reds' back four and Mignolet himself- with most of the criticism levelled at him centering on his handling of the ball. In Liverpool's 2014-15 pre-season, on 30 July 2014, Mignolet claimed a starring role in Liverpool's penalty shootout win over Man City as he saved spot kicks from Yaya Toure and Jesus Navas. On 17 August 2014, he produced a number of reflex saves to help Liverpool win their opening match of the season against Southampton- the Reds recording a 2-1 win at Anfield. Following Liverpool's 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa on 13 September 2014, Mignolet was criticised by Brendan Rodgers for failing to show enough command- a criticism levelled at him by many others during his time to date at the club. On 23 September 2014, Mignolet faced 16 penalties in Liverpool's League Cup clash against Middlesbrough at Anfield- 15 in the penalty shootout after the match had ended 2-2. Mignolet saved one whilst another was missed to hand Liverpool a 14-13 victory. Mignolet himself netted one of Liverpool's penalties. As Liverpool's early season form- and particularly their defensive displays faultered, Mignolet continued to attract much criticism from the fans. On 26 November 2014 in the Reds' Champions League tie away to Ludogorets, Mignolet spilled a shot that allowed striker Dani to put the Bulgarian side 1-0 up. Despite the match finishing 2-2, Brendan Rodgers publicly demanded an immediate improvement from Mignolet. Ex-Reds keeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who had criticised Mignolet at the end of the previous season, gave an interview in which he was especially denegrating about Mignolet, suggesting he was the biggest factor behind Liverpool's poor results, particularly focusing on Mignolet's reluctance to come off of his line and command the penalty area. Mignolet responded with a clean sheet in Liverpool's next game- a 1-0 home win over Stoke City- in which he produced a number of fine reflex saves. His performance drew praise from Brendan Rodgers. In the next game- away to Leicester on 2 December 2014- Mignolet was unfortunate to be credited with an own goal, as a shot from Leonardo Ulloa hit the post but rebounded off the back of Mignolet into the net. Eventually, criticism of Mignolet reached a head, and prior to Liverpool's tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 14 December 2014, Brendan Rodgers elected to drop the Belgian "indefinitely" in favour of Brad Jones. Mignolet returned to the team on 26 December 2014, coming on as a substitute in Liverpool's away match against Burnley, courtesy of a thigh injury to Jones. In the coming games, Brendan Rodgers switched Liverpool's system to utilise a back three. With it, Liverpool's defensive performances improved markedly and Mignolet appeared to grow in confidence. After Liverpool's 2-0 win over Aston Villa on 18 January 2015, Rodgers praised Mignolet as looking "more like a Liverpool goalkeeper." Mignolet's revival continued apace and, with a man of the match display in Liverpool's 2-0 win at Southampton on 22 February 2015, Mignolet secured five consecutive away clean sheets in the League- the first time Liverpool had achieved the feat since 1985. He made it six in a row- a 40 year old Liverpool record- with another man of the match performance away to Swansea on 16 March 2015 as the Reds won 1-0. A week later, Mignolet saved a Wayne Rooney penalty in a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United. At the end of the season, Mignolet had kept 13 Premier League clean sheets, leaving him runner up for the Golden Glove award. The Belgian had a good start to the 2015-16 season, keeping clean sheets in the opening three games, including difficult away trips to Stoke and Arsenal. However, the Reds went on to concede three goals in each of their next two games, at home to West Ham, and away to Manchester United. On 17 September 2015, Mignolet made his 100th appearance for the club, starting in a Europa League tie away to Bordeaux. The Belgian couldn't keep a clean sheet however, as the Reds drew 1-1. Three days later, Mignolet punched a cross straight into the path of Russell Martin, who scored the equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Norwich. Honours Individual *Standard Chartered Player of the Month: 1 (September 2013) Stats External links * *Simon Mignolet's profile on liverpoolfc.com * Mignolet Mignolet